Employer liability

What Constitutes Employer Liability

Within UK law there are a number of things that give rise to employer liability.

Health and Safety

You are required to ensure the health and safety of your employees whilst they are at work. This does not just involve creating a safe working environment, it also means making sure that the workplace is kept in a tidy condition and making sure they have enough room to work in. Failure to do so can create problems for you in the long term.

Employer liability doesn’t stop there

There are many things that can cause an accident at work. A few examples are:

Lack of workspace to be able to work comfortably

Excessive twisting and turning

Excessive gripping

Excessive vibration

Lack of breaks

If an employee doesn’t have enough space to work comfortably, they may find themselves sitting or standing in an un-natural position, which could cause muscle strain, potentially leading to a compensation claim against you.

Excessive twisting and turning could result in long-term damage to muscles which could equal a potential compensation claim against you.

Excessive gripping could cause a future lack of hand mobility which could equal a potential compensation claim against you.

Excessive vibration could cause carpel tunnel syndrome which could equal a potential compensation claim against you.

Lack of breaks can cause lack of concentration and any number of accidents. Where breaks are concerned you should not only make them part of the working day, you should ensure that employees actually take them, otherwise it could be the cause of a compensation claim against you.

Former Employees

A former employee could become ill even after they have left employment, but can still attribute the illness to the time they worked for you. For example, this could happen with a small amount of chemicals in the air, which would not affect a person in the short term, but over a period of years could have a bad effect on their health.

Employer Liability Insurance

You can take all necessary precautions and steps to safeguard your staff, but still an accident can happen, still, someone may claim compensation from you even if it is unclear as to who is at fault. This is where you need employer liability insurance to protect yourself; in fact in the UK it is law that you have this type of insurance if you are an employer.

The problems seem to occur not between the employer and staff member, but with the insurance companies who will do their best not to have to pay out on a claim of any sort.

Accident Advice Helpline has many years experience dealing with injury compensation claims of every type, including accidents at work. We have in house solicitors who know how to handle insurance companies, wont be intimidated by them and will get the best deal possible for your employee.

Accident Advice Helpline has a freephone number, 0800 689 0500 or from your mobile on 0333 500 0993, where anyone wanting to make a compensation claim can speak to one of our friendly advisors. Alternatively you can visit our website and complete the 30-second test, this will give you a rough idea about how much compensation your employee can expect to be awarded.

How much you could claim?

Disclaimer: This website contains content contributed by third parties, therefore any opinions, comments or other information expressed on this site that do not relate to the business of AAHDL or its associated companies should be understood as neither being held or endorsed by this business.

Please note: Values are guidelines only. Your injuries and recovery are as individual as you are. The awards are guideline amounts only and any settlement will be based upon the evidence of medical practitioners.

N.B. All cases are judged individually based on the circumstances.

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